03/06/2015 09:16Hosts Iceland and rookies Montenegro open GSSE campaign on a high note 2015 Games of the Small States of Europe

Reykjavik, Iceland, June 3, 2015. The women’s Volleyball competition of the 2015 Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) got underway on Tuesday in Reykjavik with Montenegro and hosts Iceland recording straight-sets wins over San Marino and Liechtenstein, respectively.

Montenegro and San Marino opened the programme on Tuesday in a match that was somehow historic since this game coincided with the first appearance of a Montenegrin women’s national team at the GSSE. With about 250 spectators in attendance, San Marino displayed a good effort, but Montenegro showed their class to sweep three sets in a row (25-17, 25-21, 25-14). The ladies from Montenegro impressed especially with their offensive play with team captain Tatjana Bokan recording 16 points and Elza Hadzisalihovic top scoring on 17. As for San Marino, the most prolific player for the team from the Italian peninsula was Samanta Giardi with 9 points.

Next to play were the home heroines of Iceland who also recorded a 3:0 victory over their opponents from Liechtenstein (25-22, 25-20, 25-21). The visitors from Liechtenstein jumped ahead in the opening set leading by 12:7 but things changed once the captain of the home team went to serve and Iceland levelled the score at 12 all. The first set continued to be a close affair through to the end and the same happened in set 2 but Iceland always had the upper hand. The hosts controlled the third one right from the start (5:1) and could keep this small cushion all the way through to their final 3:0 win. Team captain Jóna Guôlaug Vigfusdottir paced Iceland with 20 points whilst Hjördis Eiriksdottir added another 10 to the tally of the home team. As many as 600 spectators were in attendance for the debut of the home team thereby setting an all-time record for a Volleyball match in Iceland.